Manufacture or treatment of yarns or filaments



Patented Feb. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 George Schneider, Montclalr, N. 1., assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware No Drawing.

6Claims.

that retain its lubricative properties for long periods of time, and that does not make the yarns or filaments sticky or tacky by oxidation or polymerization oi the lubricating material. Other 16 objects the invention will appear from the following detailed description. I

The lubrication of yarns, particularly those made of or containing organic derivatives-oi cellulose, present serious difilculties, since the ordi- 20 nary lubricant employed presents various disadvantages when applied to such yarn. The ordinary lubricants impart harshness to the textile yarn, or, by oxidation and/or hydrolysis upon standing in contact with the yarn, they impart 25 to the organic derivative oi cellulose yarn an increased tendency to deluster when treated with hot aqueous media. Some lubricants upon oxidation or polymerization develop gumminess or lose their lubricative properties, while others de- 30 velop free acid or other products that may interiere with dyeing and scouring processes. Further, other ordinary lubricants, which have a penetratlng'property when employed upon organic derivative of cellulose yarns, after ageing develop 35 a harshness and brittleness in the yarn, which makes such yarn unfit for fabrication, particu-,

larly where fine stitch shape is employed such as in circular and warp knitting.

I have i'ound that the oil expressed or ex- 40 tracted from the yoke of eggs, known as egg oil,

is an excellent lubricant when applied to or incorporated in organic derivative of cellulose yarns and/or filaments. This oil has the advantage over the ordinary lubricants in that it 45 lubricates and at the same time makes more pliable the organic derivatives of cellulose. This oil, when used to lubricate yarns and filaments containing organic derivatives of cellulose, has

the property or more or less penetrating into the filaments, lending pliability and lubricative properties thereto. Due to this property 01' the oil,

the oil becomes extremely preferable as a lubricant for yarns and filaments 01' all deniers.

nine, in employing egg oil as a lubricant, fila- 55 ments of heavy denier may be lubricated and Application December 26, 1934. Serial No. 759,2 0

made pliable such that they may be circular knitted or otherwise fabricated, yielding a tabrlc having excellent stitch shape even when the iabric'is formed of relatively small stitches.

A further advantage of this invention is that 5 the lubricant does not polymerize or oxidize upon standing. Yarns and filaments lubricated with the egg oil do not become sticky and tacky upon standing, nor do they lose their lubricative properties. Further, yarns which have been lubricated with the egg oil may be processed into fabrics after having stood for several months in contact with the lubricant. Yarn lubricated with egg oil and formed into fabrics may be scoured and cleaned after several months standing in contact with the lubricant, which fabrics deluster and dye evenly, giving rise to no streaks or localized patches of light and heavy delustering.

While the oily lubricant in this invention develops some free acidity on ageing upon'the yarns, there is, however, very little loss of unsaturated groups as evidenced by the small change in the iodine number. Upon ageing, yarns and filaments lubricated with egg oil according'to this invention, suifer little or no loss 01 their desirable textile properties when exposed to air and light, and do not develop to any marked extent increased delustering properties as compared with yarns lubricated with other oils.

The oily lubricant of this invention is subject to little or slow oxidation and/or hydrolytic changes that tend to cause polymerization and gumminess oi the lubricant or change the physi-' cal or lubricative properties of the yarn. Furthermore, the pliability oi the yarn remains unaltered for long periods or time. The yarn which is lubricated with egg oil does not develop harshness or brittleness due to the oxidation of the lubricant, as the lubricant is relatively tree 01' oxidation products. Thus, the lubricated yarn may be stored for long periods of time without developing a gummy suriace that causes a drag on the yarns as they pass through guides, etc., which drag is one cause of poor stitch or weave shape in mild cases and of breaking and hairing oi the yarns and cutting oi! the guides in more severe cases, where the lubricant has caused a brittleness of the yarns. Such aged yarns, therefore, may be successfully employed in circular or warp knitting operations as well as in weaving, winding, twisting or other textile operaons.

The lubricant, which may consist entirely 01' 55 egg oil or egg oil mixed with other lubricative ingredients, is practically odorless and does not develop rancid odors upon ageing, and for this reason fabrics formed of yarns treated therewith need not be scoured entirely free of same. This property reduces the amount of scouring necessary and reduces the possibility of injury to fabrics. Furthermore, the egg oil or the egg oil mixed with preferred lubricative ingredients is substantially colorless. Therefore, it does not impart to the light colored yarns an undesirable tint or tisge and does not throw dyeing processes of! c or. In accordance with my invention, I lubricate yarns or filaments containing organic derivatives of cellulose with a lubricant ofegg oil with or without the aid of other lubricants, emulsifying agents, diluents and/or carriers The invention, although applicable to all types of yarns and filaments, is particularly applicable to yarns or filaments containing organic derivatives of cellulose such as organic esters of 0611111 lose and cellulose ethers. Examples of organic esters of celluloseare cellulose acetate, cellulose propionate and cellulose formate, while examples of cellulose ethers are ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and benzyl cellulose. By the term yarns or filaments there is included threads, assemblies or bundles of a number of continuous filaments which may be in parallel relationship or'which may be twisted together, artificial bristles, straws, short lengths of staple fibre or yarns spun from such staple fibres. This invention is also applicable to the production and treatment of films,

foils and sheet material made from or containing organic derivative of cellulose material. The

yarns or filaments may contain besides the organic derivative of cellulose base, various eifect materials such as pigments, filling materials, dyes or lakes, fire retardants, plasticizers and sizes. Examples 'of plasticizers are diethyl phthalate, dimethyl phthalate, ethyl toluene suiphonamide, etc. The effect materials may be applied to the yarns and filaments as'a coating, or they may be added to the solution from which the yarns or filaments are spun.

The lubricant may especially be applied to the yarns or filaments in the course of their production, or it may be applied subsequently before or during anyv textile operation in which they are employed. By applying the lubricant to the yarns and filaments by adding a suitable quantity of same to a spinning solution from which the filaments are spun by either the dry evaporative method or by the wet method, this may sufiice for the subsequent textile operation. The lubricantxmay, for example, be applied to the yarn or filaments during any winding operation thereof by passing same in contact with the wick, roller, disc, or other furnishing device that dips into the lubricant. The yarns or filaments may be drawn through a solution or emulsion of the lubricant, or the solution or emulsion may be sprayed upon the yarns. Any of the methods described in the following applications may be employed. 0. 8. applications Nos. 601,352 filed March 26, 1932; 632,000 filed September 7, 1932: 638,266 filed October 18, 1932; 642,868 filed November 16, 1932 and 658,715 filed February 27, 1933. The particular nature of the lubricant present and the manner of applying it may vary considerably according to the subsequent particular textile operations, andin view of other circumstances. The lubricant may also as applied to the yarns or filaments by hank dipping methods or by fol l fi the lubricants through packages of the yarn. The

sure or by solvents and/or by the separating of I the yolk of fresh eggs from the white and solidifying the yolk until the bulk of the water has been removed, the dry mass then being placed in bags and the oil expressed between hot plates. The oil obtained by any of the above pr may then be filtered and/or distilled. The extracted oil with or without first being dissolved in a solvent may be filtered through color extracting and puriiying media such as activated charcoal, bone char, fullers earth and like filtering media. Although any of the egg oils may be employed, that fraction or type is preferable which has a viscosity smiliar to that of olive oil, which oil is generally obtained by the ether extraction method of the oil from the yolks of hens eggs. In place of the oil from hens eggs, the oil from other eggs may be employed, for instance, ducks eggs, which 011 has a lower iodine value and also a lower phosphorus content.

The egg oil may be applied as such, or the same may be applied from a solution in xylene, toluene, etc. The lubricant may be in the form of a dressing and may contain, besides the egg oil, emulsifying agents such as sodium or potassium soaps or diluents such as oleic acid and other oils. The lubricant dressing may also contain fugitive colors that tint, but do not actually dye, the organic derivative of cellulose material.

For many purposes, the dressing may be applied in the form of a watery emulsion. One such emulsion may consist, for example, of egg oil, oleic acid and water. In other cases where a watery emulsion is not desirable, for instance, in preparing the threads for operations such as warp knitting, a dressing of egg oil and oleic acid may be applied from the heated mixture of same. In other cases, egg oil or egg oil and a tint may be applied cold by means of a wick.

The amount of lubricant applied will vary with the type of yarn, the eilect materials therein or thereupon and to the intended use of the yarn. Average type cellulose acetate yarn generally requires from 1-5% or more, particularly 1-2% when applied to the yarn as it leaves the spinning cabinet. I'br circular knitting processes as. much as 25% or more may be applied to the yarn. Larger or smaller amounts may be found desirable for each particular type ofyarn or fabric. For certain uses there may be added or incorporatedwiththeyarnabyaddingthesameto' the spinning solution, as much as 10% or more of the lubricant.

Excellent finishes for organic derivative of cellulose yarns that are to be knitted or woven. and particularly circular knitted, may be formed by admixing egg oil with a relatively non-volatile substance having at least a solvent or a latent solvent action on the organic derivatives of cellulose, such as ethyl oxybutyrate, benzyl alcohol, diacetone oil or formals made by the condensation of formaldehyde or other aldehydes with an aliphatic polyhydric alcohol or an aromatic polyhydric alcohol or their partial ether-s, such as glycerol, ethylene glycol. mono-methyl ether of ethylene glycol, etc. Such finishes may also contain a hygroscopic, relatively non-volatile substance such as diethylene glycol, glyoerine,

ethylene glycol, propylene glycol or other poly- 7'6 hydric alcohols, monoethyl ether and ethylene glycols or other ethers of glycols or other polyhydric alcohols.

The following are some examples of practical applications of the invention, it being understood that these are given only by way of illustration and that the invention is in no way restricted thereto.

Example I The yarn is spun by the dry evaporative method from a solution of cellulose acetate in acetone. Immediately after the yarn leaves the spinning cabinet and prior tobeing wound on a cap winding bobbin, it is contacted with a standard cotton wick that dips into a bath of egg oil. The wick is suitably adjusted so that it supplies from 1-2% by-weight of the egg oil to the yarn. The yarn is found to be evenly and sufiiciently lubricated and warp knits and circular knits with a good stitch shape. The yarn, after storage for a long period of time, say three months, scours with less delustering and crinkling than blanks lubricated with commonly used lubricants. Furthermore, there is no tackiness or gumminess,

found in or on the fabric.

Example ll Cellulose acetate is treated with 24% of egg oil.

during the winding operation by means of a furnishing roller. Theyarn exhibits the same,

properties as the yarn treated according to Example I in respect to ageing. It is, however, more thoroughly lubricated.

Example III To a spinning solution containing about 25 parts cellulose acetate to '15 parts of water acetone there is added 4-6% on the weight of the cellulose acetate of egg oil. This solution is spun into yarn by the dry method of spinning. The yarn is found to be sufilciently lubricated to eflleiently pass through guides, filers and other control devices in winding and weaving and twisting operations, regardless of the denier or thickness of the filaments formed.

Example IV A conditioning liquid is made as follows:

The formal of monomethyl ether of ethylene glycol -70 Egg oil 40-30 A mixture of diethylene glycol and 30% water 6-12 This mixture is applied to yarn in amounts from 2-20% or more on the weight of the yarn by any suitable furnishing device. The yarn so treated can be easily formed into circular knitted fabrics that are free of pin holes and stitch distortions.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is merely given by way of illustration, and many alterations may be made there- Parts by weight in without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The phrase action occurring in certain of the following claims is to be understood to refer to substances having either at latent solvent or a solvent action for the organic derivative of cellulose in question.

Having described :my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

'1. Yarns or filaments comprising organic derivatives of cellulose and a lubricant containingegg'oil.

2.-,Yxrnsor'filaments comprising cellulose acetate-and a lubricant containing egg oil.

having at least 'a latent solvent- 

